1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to retractable tubing reels, and more particularly to a retractable tubing reel for supplying oxygen to a patient.
2) Description of the Related Art
Hospitalization sometimes requires that a patient receive oxygen therapy for the treatment of conditions resulting from oxygen deficiency. Oxygen therapy is used to combat acute arterial anoxia that may result from pneumonia, pulmonary edema, or obstruction to breathing. Oxygen therapy is also employed in congestive heart failure, coronary thrombosis, and following surgery. Oxygen therapy may be administered by nasal catheter, mask, funnel, oxygen tent, or special oxygen chamber, and usually in a concentration of seventy to one hundred percent. One of the most common methods of administering oxygen therapy is through nasal catheter to allow the patient the ability to move about normally and with less intrusions. The nasal catheter is connected to a stationary oxygen supply unit such as a tank, through tubing connected between the catheter and the stationary oxygen tank.
A patient undergoing oxygen therapy has limited movement due to the need to be close to a stationary oxygen supply unit. If a long tubing was connected between the stationary supply unit and the nasal catheter, the patient would have to worry about tangling and pinching of the tubing which would result in the oxygen being constricted and unavailable for the patient. Also, if excess tubing were to lay on a cold floor for any amount of time, condensation would commence in the tubing creating problems for the patient. What is needed is a means for allowing a patient undergoing oxygen therapy, or some other gas therapy, to freely move about a large area from a stationary gas supply unit. The oxygen, or gas, supplied to the patient must not be constricted or the flow to the patient reduced, and an indisposed patient must be able to use this means without exerting themselves. Some prior inventions have retraction mechanisms, however, these inventions are incompatible with oxygen therapy devices. Another problem associated with oxygen therapy is the necessity to easily service the tubing. The oxygen tubing must be removed for cleansing and sterilization on a regular maintenance schedule. Any device providing extra tubing must allow for facilitated servicing of that extra tubing, especially in a hospital where there might be hundreds of oxygen tubing that needs servicing.
Dragon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,143, discloses an intravenous tubing retractor apparatus including a container with a feed conduit, a retraction means with a spool, a pair of guide rollers, and a mounting boss with "L" shaped pivot arms.
Nederman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,960, discloses a wind-up device for flexible conduits comprising a drum in which a flexible conduit is enclosed, a stationary shaft, a coil spring assembly, a fixation element for effecting tensioning or release of the coil spring, the coil spring capable of rapid replacement without any need of releasing internal parts.
Guerster et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,913, discloses a retriever reel for electrical or fluid lines comprising a stationary base, a drum, a continuous line, a spring, and a pair of clamps, the reel departing from the use of expensive slip rings or rotary joints.